Kickstarting: Elegant Salt Shakers And Coat Hooks Made From Cast-Offs

David Okum’s Made Collection began with the materials he had on hand in his L.A. studio.

After David Okum launched his eponymous studio last year, the Los Angeles–based designer found fast success by focusing on substantial standbys like lighting, benches, and desks. He subsequently began experimenting with accessories to fill a void in his own home and, by default, the marketplace at large. This R&D evolved into the Made Collection, a range of small products that are equally logical and lyrical, solution-based but also simply beautiful (and currently in Kickstarter mode).

Raw component parts provided the inspiration Okum needed to get started—a beginning that fits in nicely to what he feels is the "intuitive" nature of California design—while the relative size of the objects also offered an opportunity to use a wide range of off-the-shelf components. "I’m always looking at stock materials that are readily available in many shapes and sizes," he tells Co.Design. "There has never been a time in the past where we have this kind of abundance, which we often take for granted. For furniture, it is harder to take advantage of this situation, but for home goods it just makes so much sense."

The paddle coat hooks were the first to emerge from ready-made elements; the trio are cut from samples of American Walnut and hard white Maple, while a bent aluminum trivet, lumber-and-Corian salt-and-pepper shakers, and hardwood desk tray and bowl complete the refined bunch. "Materials were chosen based on accessibility and greatest amount of unseen potential," he says.

As such, the items in the series aren’t united by their connection to a particular room of the house, or even a distinct visual relationship. Instead, cohesion is achieved in a more soulful way. "Because they all formed simultaneously in my hands, aesthetically they converse with one another," Okum says. "I want the future of Made Collection to have this freedom, to explore the home or any place we are creative in our everyday lives—the kitchen, our desk, the shower. I see these as pieces in a never ending ‘set.’"